Monday: 0 run, 16 bike!
First time on a bike since early August last year. (PMR kept my riding to an absolute minimum last summer, but I digress.) Solo ride along the beach roads. A lot of people out, but not terribly crazy tourist season yet.
Tuesday: 4 run
Short run cut ever shorter by nasty deerflies, worst bout this year to date. Wahaneeta with Brady. They were just swarming and buzzing around my head, and I couldn't swat them into my head and kill them like I've done so often, as I have to be careful with my head wound. They were laughing at me. Ugh. Still managed to kill 17 of those bastards (mid-air jabs, smacking them into my arms, etc.), but it wasn't fun.
Speaking of not fun, I got a reality check an hour post-run at my weekly debridement treatment session at the hospital. The doctor sat me down and explained that my wound healing had stalled, and the previous estimate (by another wound care staff member) for being fully healed on July 4th was just not going to happen. He used statistical trends showing the reduction of my wound's measurements over time to show me, and then I got it. So then, if not July 4th, then when? He was hesitant to give me any date at all, as he explained the healing is often not a linear progression path, but he said based on observations he has seen in other patients, it could be up to an additional 4-8 weeks. 4-8 weeks?! In addition to the 10 weeks already? I just about lost it, and I'm just sick and tired of all of it:
- I'm sick of having a scalpel scraping my scalp every Tuesday and the ensuing pain
- I'm sick of bleeding from the top of my head
- I'm sick of wearing a hat everywhere I go
- I'm sick of wearing a shower cap
- I'm sick of not being able to swim (or go in the water, on boats, etc)
- I'm sick of not breaking 60 minutes at Blessing (oh, wait a minute, that's not related, is it?)
I was pretty depressed for a few hours. The doctor apologized many times, but I don't direct it at him. In fact, he is trying and spends a lot of time with me. He changed to a different collagen dressing that is supposed to stimulate building new tissue in acute wounds. He is also looking into placental membranes and seeing if my insurance will pay for that.
It's just depressing as I had thought I was done, and now I need to keep going to the hospital every Tuesday and also push off any family vacation. I need to stay focused on positivity and have patience. I'm alive, I'm cancer-free, and a lot of people are far worse off than me.
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| The one bright spot in my day: business meeting / job interview on the oceanside patio at the Coast Guard House, Narragansett. HR approved my location choice, and I was able to expense the meal and valet parking. Oh yeah, and the important part: we have a great candidate that hopefully will come aboard. |
Wednesday: 11
AM: 8 miles on Vin Gormley trail. Hot and sweaty mess in the heat. I wore a hydration pack filled with ice and cold water, as the streams are drying up and otherwise there would be long sections of trail with no water for Brady. He just took a few sips of the now warm water each time we stopped, but when we finished and I filled his collapsible bowl with cold water from the car, he drank four bowls full of water! Hmm. A couple of people told me I shouldn't give dogs cold water, but when I searched on the 'net, that's not exactly what I found. There were studies done that showed dogs, like many people, prefer cold water to drink. Even with ice cubes, it was only recommended to avoid for those dogs that are either very small or are suffering from heat stroke. OK, good to know. Feel free to let me know if you have a different experience; I'm still learning.
PM: 3 miles at Fun Run 5K. Actually tried hard to run fast, but 19:09 was all I could muster. Sebastian led it out fast, followed by Dave Goodrich, then Jonny Eckel who passed me early on, and me. I never saw Sebastian after the first turn (he finished in 16:2x), but I could see Dave the whole way and Jonny was just a few strides ahead of me before I passed him in the 2nd mile. I anticipated him retaking me at any point, but it just never happened. Another good Fun Run, albeit on a very hot day.
Thursday: 5
Slow and easy in the midday heat from Kettle Pond Visitor Center. Mostly ran the Kimball Trails so that I could keep bringing Brady back to Watchaug Pond. I stood on the shoreline jealous while he ran into the pond and put his head under the water at least 15 times to cool off. He just stood in the pond looking at me on the shoreline and seemed to have no interest to come out of the pond. I don't blame him!
Friday: 12
I took the day off to make a 4-day holiday weekend, and had grandiose visions of getting a lot of yard work done. Rainy most of the day, so that didn't happen. Mid morning decided to go to Arcadia with Brady and run the "classic loop" (from JB Hudson trailhead CW to Mount Tom Trail, Escoheag Trail, Breakheart, etc). Not a soul out there! Nice. It was light rain and I was quickly drenched from that and the humidity, but very comfortable.
We stopped at every stream and river and Brady would go in. About 4 miles in my shoes and socks were soaked, mostly from running through puddles and knee-high grass in "The Gulley" (northern section of Mt Tom Trail), so after that I just joined Brady in wading into every subsequent river stop, with my shoes and socks on. Helped both to wash off some of the muck as well as cool me down. Our final river stop of the day was one of my favorite water holes (intersection of River Trail and Shelter), and I just waded all the way up to my stomach. It probably wasn't the brightest move, as I slipped at one point and feared going underwater and compromising my head wound healing, but it sure felt refreshing!
One of the highlights was having my new watch! Did a fair amount of research on which multi-sport watch to buy, and in the end stayed in the Fenix family. Didn't want to drop $700 on the latest version (Fenix 6), so bought the previous version (Fenix 5 Plus) at half-price on Amazon for $350.
One of the lowlights was that DEM is making Breakheart Trail so manicured with the addition of stone dust. Disappointing. It's a single-track trail in the woods.
Saturday: 15!
Took advantage of really good running weather, with temps at 8am at just 60° and mist the entire time. Needed to drop my car off for inspection anyway, but as that's only two miles from home, I crafted a longer route through Avondale, Watch Hill, and Misquamicut. I felt badly for the tourists who spent a lot of money renting a house for the 4th of July weekend and ending up with a lot of rainy weather, but that's the chance you take obviously.
Came home, lied down on the couch, and crashed into a hard sleep. I guess I needed it!
Sunday: 0 run, 23 ride
2nd ride of the season, and first group ride with friends in a year. Met up with Tommy and Mike at Westerly Yacht Club and we rode through town and out to Boombridge (my first time crossing the new bridge), North Stonington, Ashaway, and back through Charlestown with a stop at Dave's Coffee. Good time catching up. Although I see each of them at Fun Runs every Wednesdays, I'm typically too busy with RD duties and don't get much time to talk.
I had wanted to get in a run today, but the day just got away from me. That's OK. I'll swap out my typical Monday off tomorrow and run.
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| Happiness is a new toy. After 19 years, my previous trimmer completely died and can't be repaired any more. This one has a 4-year warranty. |
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| Also came with a swappable steel blade. Cool! I immediately went to "help" out my neighbor, the state cop, by trimming through a lot of the thick entangled weeds and woody brush right near his vinyl fence. How sharp are these blades? Sliced right through his fence. Oops. |
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| This little guy was scared, so I didn't hold him for long before releasing him back to our lawn. Pretty cool, eh? |
Weekly mileage: 47 run, 39 ride
Weekly synopsis: A good running and biking week overall. Would've hit my weekly running goal, if I ran instead of biked Sunday, but it's all good and happy to spend some time with old friends.
Weekly highlight: Oddly, the 15-mile road run. Kind of enjoyed it, but don't tell anyone, as I shouldn't be enjoying road runs.
Weekly lowlight: Medical setback with my head wound.
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